Acetylene-gas machine



No. 623,48I. Patented Apr. l8, I899. S. D. KOPF.

ACETYLENE GAS MACHINE.

(Afiplication filed Sept. 12, 1898.\ (No Model.) 2 Sheets- -Sheet I.

Witnesses. Inven tor.

Attorney.

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N0. 623,48l. Patented Apr. [8, I399. S. D. KUPF. ACETYLENE GAS MACHINE.

(Application filed Sept. 12, 189B.)

2 iheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

Szgel ,U. KoPf Attorney.

Witnesse s.

Noam: mail 00,. mom-urns WASHIHGTON. n. c.

Unrrnn Starts PATENT Grains.

SIGEL D. KOPF, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

ACETY'LENE '-GAS -MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,481, dated April18, 1899.

Application filed se temtalalses. Serial No. 690,797. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, SIGEL D. KOPF, a citizen of the United States,residing at Grand Rapids,-in the county of Kent and State of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for generatingacetylene gas; and its objects are, first, to provide a machine withwhich each of several generators may be made to work independent of theothers; second, to provide for the escape of all gas in the generatorsbefore the carbid-tank can be removed; third, to avert the danger ofgenerating a sufficient quantity of gas to raise the lid above thewater-line, and, fourth, to provide for thoroughly dampening the entirebody of carbid used for the generation of the gas. I attain theseobjects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhichi Figure l is an elevation of my complete machine. Fig. 2 is avertical section of the same, showing its internal construction. Fig. 3is a vertical section of the carbid-tank, showing the manner ofdisbursing water to thoroughly saturate the carbid. Fig. 4 is asectional elevation of the valve leading from the carbidtanks to thegasometer. Fig. 5 is a detached view of my automatic arrangement foractuating the valves leading from the water-tank to the carbid-tanks.Fig. 6 is a plan of the gasometer with the cover removed to show thedistribution of the several conductorpipes, Fig. 7 is a sectionalelevation of the escape pipe and trap. Fig. 8 is a like view of the pipethat conducts the gas to the gasometer; and Fig 9 is a detached view ofthe valve between the carbid-tanks and the gasometer, showing thearrangement forpreventing the carbid-tank from being removed withoutfirst allowing the gas to escape.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throu ghout the several views.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the gasometer, and Arepresents the cover or bell, which is provided with adownwardly-extending rim that passes below the water in the gasometer toform a trap in the usual manner of constructing this portion ofthemachine.

B and 13 represent the carbid-tanks, which I have designated by modifiedreference-letters for the purpose of facilitating the description of theautomatic action of the valves for regulating the flow of water to thecarbid, as follows:

The water-tank F is so pported directly above the carbid-tanks and isconnected therewith by the conducting-tubes D. These tubes are made Ushape to form traps to prevent the gas from escaping-therethrough whenthe water is exhausted from the tanks. I placea valve d in each of thesetubes in substantially the position indicated in Fig. 1 and attach tothe stems thereof levers E and E, arranged to be actuated to open andclose the valves by the action of the bar J, which is pivoted to thestandard J, which in turn is attached to the cover A of the gasometer,so that the rising and falling of the cover will carry the bar J withit, and as the levers stand at an incline from the perpendicular thepivotal connecting-linksj in sliding up and down thereon will give asufficient swinging motion to the levers, as indicated by the dottedlines in Fig. 5, to open and close the valves. I/Vhy I do this is thatwith a continual flow of water upon the carbid too much gas is liable togenerate and raise the cover out of the water in the gasometer and allowgas to escape therefrom. YVith my arrangement as soon as the coverorbell has been raised to the proper height the valve is automaticallyclosed, so that no water can enter the carbid-chamber until the gas hasbeen sufficiently exhausted from the gasometer to again open the valve,when it will be again charged so that a governor is in continualoperation, holding the gas at a uniform volume and pressure.

It will be noticed that the bar J is placed at an angle and is held toposition by a connectin g-rod j, connecting the bar with the top of thestandard J, as atj, so that one of the valve-levers is held at a greaterincline from the perpendicular than the other. The result of this isthat one of the valves will be opened much sooner than the other, and asa consequence but one of the generators will be active at a time, as asufficient amount of gas will generate in the one, as E, to hold thecover up to a position to prevent the opening of the valve leading tothe other tank B, and when the carbid has been fully exhausted from theone tank the cover will settle down sufiiciently to open the valve tothe other tank, and thus continue the supply of gas. \Vhen the carbid isexhausted in one tank, as B, the flow of water to the other tank, as B,may be advanced by reversing the position of the bar J, as indicated bythe dotted lines in Fig. 5, so that the valve will be opened sooner anda greater amount of gas will be stored in the gasometer by reason of theearlier opening of the valve.

For properly distributing the water over the carbid I place a convex orconical disk K immediately under the dropping water, so that each dropis broken into numerous smaller drops and strikes the carbid in the formof a fine spray of water covering the entire surface, and to insure thedropping of the water immediately upon the apex of the disk I place aconical wire coil (1 upon the end of the tube D inside of thereceiving-cone C.

As the gas is generated in the carbid-tank it passes up into the cone 0and out through the pipe 1', into and through the valve I, and downthrough the pipe G into the gasometer. The upper end of the pipe Gwithin the gasometer is provided with an automaticallyadjustable cap g,which must be of a proper weight, so that the buoyancy of the gas willnot raise it from contact with the water, so that the gas passingthrough the pipe will be forced to pass through water to enter thegaschamber in the gasometer, by which means it is to a great extentscourec and rendered available for lighting purposes. This cap is heldin its vertical position by a rod 9 which is secured at one end to theinner surface of the top of the cap, and the other end extends down intothe pipe G, so that the cap cannot tip and allow gas to escape into thechamber of the gasometer without passing through the water. The upperend of the pipe G must be a sufficient distance above the surface of thewater in the gasometer to preclude the possibility of any water everentering this pipe.

G represents the conductor-pipe leading from the gasometer to the pointof consumption, and as it acts exactly similar to all cond uctor-pipesin gas-machines I do not deem it necessary to go further into detailupon this point.

G is designed to act as an escape-pipe for gas in case the valves d tothe carbid-tank fail to regulate the production of gas as desired and ashereinbefore explained. The inner end of this pipe passes up into a pipeG, that is suspended from the cover of the gasometer and well down intothe water. Some distance from the lower end of this pipe I form anaperture or apertures, as in position to rise above the surface of thewater before the rim of the cover reaches it and allow the surplus gasto escape through them and into and through the pipe G. This causes awaste of gas to the amount exhausted; but as its use is almost entirelyobviated by the action of the valves (1 but a small amount of gas everescapes by this means.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a vertical section of the valve 1, which I haveinvented expressly for use with my machine. This is a compound three-wayvalve having the two threeway ports t, that are so arranged that whenthe carbid-tanks are in place and charged gas from either tank will flowtherethrough and through the pipe G into the gasometer; but if it isnecessary to remove one of the earbid-tanks to replenish the carbid itis necessary to change the ports from the direct channel to thegasometer indicated by the arrows at 7b to the position indicated by thearrows at It, so that any gas that may remain in the carbid-tank willescape therethrough and through the pipe 1 to the escape'pipe G. Thisresult is attained in the following manner: The cover of the tank issecured to the body of the gasometer by means of arms II, and the rim bthereof extends down some distance in the usual manner of constructingthese covers to prevent the escape of gas from the carbid-tank by thissource. The arms I) (see Figs. 1, G, and 7) are integral with the armsII that support the cover of the carbidtank and project out beyond theperiphery of said covers to be engaged by the catches Z), the latterbeing secured to the periphery of the body 13 of the carbid-tank andprojecting up therefrom, so that when the body is placed to positionunder the cover it may be turned slightly and the catches will engagethe arms and support the body. To avert the danger of these catchesbecoming disconnected from the arms and the tank to drop from positionand allow gas to escape without first closing the valve t, I place alatch 71 upon the valve-plugs at right angles with the lever t and inposition to stand back of the catch when the tank is in place and thevalve is open for the free flow of gas from the tank to the gasometer,as indicated in Figs. 1 and 9, and when it is desired to remove the tankit will be necessary to turn the lever and latch to the positionindicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 9, when the valve will be closed,so that gas cannot escape therethrough to or from the gasometer, but mayescape through the waste-pipe, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4.

a a represent standards that are secured to the base that supports themachine and pass up parallel with the sides ofthe gasometer to somedistance above the top, where they are strengthened by across-barconnecting the two. These standards are designed as guideways, uponwhich arms that project lCO oiit from the cover A (see Fig. 1) travel toguide and support the coverin its vertical reciprocations.

In constructing the carbid-tank I form the tank proper with an outerwall B and an inner wall B for the purpose of forming the water-trap forpreventing the escape of gas, and to economize in the consumption ofcarbid I place the bottom of the carbid-receptacle about one-half of theheight of the tank upward 'from the bottom, as at 72 By this means I notonly economize the gas and the consumption of carbid, but avert thenecessity of having to force an unnecessary amount of air into thegasometer when renewing the carbid in the carbid-tank. I I deem itpreferable when constructing the water-tank F to form a partition in it,as at f, so that water may be stored for each carbid-tank separately.

For the purpose of perfectlybalancing the cover or bell A of thegasometer I place a weight L upon the lower end of the pipe G Thisapplication of the weight acts a double purpose-first,to hold the coverdown to place in the water to insure a perfect trap against the escapeof gas, and, second, to form a poise that will cause the cap to alwaysstand perpendicular, no matter how buoyant it may be made by theintroduction of gas.

My three-way valve I is constructed withtwo chambers. One of thesechambers Iwill designate as the live-chamber, through which the live gaspasses, as indicated by the arrows h, through the pipe Gto thegasometer, and the other I will designate as the exhaustchamber, throughwhich the surplus gas in the exhausted carbid-tank may be made to passto the escape-pipe G by the course indicated by the arrows h. The objectof this construction is twofoldfirst, to prevent the escape of gas fromthe carbid-tank when being removed, as hereinbefore stated, and, second,the turning of the plug to the position shown to the right of Fig. 4shuts off the passage from thelive-chamber, so that it is impossible forthe gas entering this chamber from the left to pass directly through thevalve and to the open air through the cover of the carbid-tank that hasbeen removed for the purpose of being refilled or for any other purpose.

I divide the chambers hereinbefore described by placing a solid wall 7Lthrough the valve, as shown, and form ports therethrough, as at Its, inposition to register with the ports through the plugs when desired, asand for the purpose hereinbefore stated.

One of the prime objects of reversing the position of the lever J,hereinbefore described, is to have the one carbid-tank active while andafter the other is being filled with carbid. It will be readilyunderstood that if this lever were permanently fixed in the positionindicated by the solid lines any water that might remain in thewater-tank would drain out of the side where the carbid is firstexhausted, even while the tank is removed, and thus when the refilledtank is replaced it will immediately become active and shut off theother, so that the other would simply act as a reserve while the firstis exhausted or being refilled with carbid. The dividing of thewater-tank is another precautionary measure to avert the danger of waterdrip-v ping therefrom when the carbid-tank is exhausted or is removedfor refilling, each division of the tank being intended to hold justsufficient water to exhaust the carbid in the tank to which it istributary.

II represents a casing or guard for the gaspipes.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an acetylene-gas machine, a gasometer having avertically-reciprocating cover or bell, carbid-tanks connected therewithby pipes, water-tanks piped tributary to said carbid-tanks, a wiredropper and a conical sprayer within the carbid-tanks to distribute thewater over the carbid in a fine spray, valves in the water-pipes, leversattached to the plugs of said valves and projecting upward at differentangles from the perpendicular and slidingly connected with the gasometercover or bell so that the vertical reciprocations of the cover willactuate the valves to open or close them, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. In combination, a gasometer, carbidtanks piped thereto, a water-tank,pipes connecting the water-tank with the carbid-tanks, a rotary valve ineach of said water-pipes, a lever attached to each of said valves andprojecting upward at different angles from the perpendicular, saidlevers slidingly connected to an adjustable lever which is pivotallysecured to the gasometer-bell, means secured to the bell for adjustingthe angle of the lever in such a way that the vertical reciprocations ofthe bell will open or close one valve in advance of the other so thatthe valve to the second tank will be opened only when, and as soon asthe carbid is exhausted from the first, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. In combination with the gasometer, carbid-tanks, water-tank, andconnecting-pipes of an acetylene-gas machine; a compound three-way valvethe plugs of which have, each, a direct port extending through the plug,a lateral port passing from said direct port to the periphery of the,plug, and two chambers in the valve so arranged that the plugs may beturned to communicate with either chamber, or one plug may be made tocommunicate with one chamber and the other plug with the other chamber,and longitudinal openings to the port-holes in the plugs and lateralopenings to the chambers, substantially as and for the .purpose setforth.

4;. In combination with the gasometer,

tanks, and connecting-pipes of an acetylenehanst-chanlber or both, anddiseharge-open- 10 gas machine; a compound three-Way valve ingsleadingfrom eachchamber,substantially having two chambers with a gas-proofpartias and for the purpose set forth. tion between, revoluble plugs onsaid valve Signed at Grand Rapids, Michigan, Septem- 5 provided withdirect ports to lead from the her 6, 1898.

inlet-pipes to the live-chamber, and lateral SIGEL D. KOPF. portsleading from said direct ports so that In presence of the plugs may beturned to conduct the in- ITHIEL J. OILLEY, flowing gas to thelive-chamber, or to the eX- I G. W. GRIFFITH.

